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10/01/2013

Deka Immobilien makes major investment in London

The German firm Deka Immobilien has acquired the office property at 5 Aldermanbury Square in London from Scottish Widows and ND Properties (TIAA-CREF group), who had each owned a 50% stake, for EUR290m. The 24,400 square metre property has Fortis Bank (BNP Paribas group, 15,800 square metres) as its largest tenant. It will be added to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund Deka-ImmobilienEuropa (DE0009809566).
10/01/2013

Hedge funds: Positive results for December and 2012 overall

On the basis of results released on 9 January for 939 funds, Barclay Hedge has calculated that hedge funds made 1.37% in December, and 7.97% for the year as a whole. All strategies finished 2012 in positive territory, except equity short bias (5 funds), which lost 25%. The strongest returns were for 15 distressed securities funds (11.82% and 148 emerging market funds (10.20%).BarclayHedge and TrimTabs state that the 2,935 funds monitored in November posted net subscriptions in 2012 of USD4.7bn, compared with net outflows of USD10.3bn in October.For its part, Hedge Fund Research estimates that hedge funds in December posted returns of 1.26%, bringing total gains in 2012 to 6.16%. Equity short bias shows heavy losses of 17.46%, while distressed has gained 10.34%.
10/01/2013

BlackRock and JPMorgan to provide daily valuation of money market funds

BlackRock and JPMorgan will publish daily asset values for their money-market funds, joining Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which was the first firm to announce such an initiative for its funds of US papers, the Financial Times reports. Others do not plan to provide a daily net asset value, such as Vanguard, the FT reports.
10/01/2013

Oddo AM registers four more funds in Italy

Oddo Asset Management has registered four new sub-funds in Italy, bringing the number of funds available in the country to 14, Bluerating reports. They are Avenir (French midcaps), European Banks (European banking equities), Valeurs Rendement (European high dividend equities) and Obligations Optimum (short-term bonds).
10/01/2013

Two co-heads of emerging markets leave GLG

The two co-heads of the emerging markets team at GLG Partners (Man Group) will be leaving the firm, a spokesperson has confirmed to Citywire Global. Bart Turtleboom and Karim Abdel-Motaal will be leaving from the start of January. They joined the firm in September 2008 to succeed Greg Coffey. The revelations come following the announcement of two recruitments for the bond team (see Newsmanagers of 9 January).
10/01/2013

Lyxor offers a gold mining ETF

On 9 January, Lyxor Asset Management announced the launch of an ETF which replicates te MSCI ACWI Gold with EM DR 18% Group Entity Capped index on NYSE Euronext Paris. The product provides investors with exposure to gold, through investment in equities whose performance is strongly tied to that of the physical gold market. The Luxembourg-registered fund exists in two share classes, one denominated in euros, and the other in US dollars.CharacteristicsName: Lyxor ETF MSCI ACWI Gold C – EurISIN code: LU0854423687Benchmark index: MSCI ACWI Gold with EM DR 18% Group Entity Capped IndexTER: 0.50%Name: Lyxor ETF MSCI ACWI Gold C – USDISIN code: LU0854423927TER: 0.50%
10/01/2013

Schroders plans to raise GBP100m on AIM

Schroders is planning to raise at least GBP100m for a real estate trust (West End of London Property Unit Trust, or WELPUT), by launching a new Guernsey-based firm on AIM, West End of London Property Investment Company, the Financial Times reports. The aim is to grow the GBP873m portfolio of WELPUT, which is nearly entirely composed of offices in the west end of London.
10/01/2013

Cumulus Energy benefits from mild German winter

The London-based hedge fund firm Cumulus Energy (EUR135m) has made returns of 39% in December on bets on “hyper-dynamic” derivatives in the energy sector that there would be a mild winter in Germany, Die Welt reports. For 2012 as a whole, performance totalled 24%. According to a letter to shareholders from manager Peter Brewer, cited by Bloomberg, Cumulus Energy profited from a 4.3% decline in energy spot prices in Germany, the steepest decline since October 2010. The fund has also posted gains on British and Scandinavian markets.
10/01/2013

Morningstar recruits founder of Wall Street on Demand

James Tanner has been appointed as global head of business development & sales at Morningstar Inc., the firm has announced, stating that Tanner is the founder of Wall Street on Demand, a financial website development firm which was acquired by UK-based Markit two years ago. Tanner was most recently vice-chairman of business development at Markit, after serving as head of global distribution.Morningstar also states that its CFO, Scott Cooley, who joined the firm 17 years ago as an equity analyst, is planning to leave the group this year, once a successor has been found.
10/01/2013

Two hedge funds face off over Herbalife

The hedge fund by Daniel Loeb on Wednesday announced that it holds an 8.2% stake in the food supplement firm Herbalife, valued at USD350m, the Wall Street Journal reports. At the same time, the fund from William Ackman, Pershing Square Capital Management, has bet more than USD1bn against the firm, short selling its shares. For observers, this could be shaping up to be one of the bloodiest hedge fund battles of all time.
10/01/2013

Chief investment officer leaves L&G

The managing director of investments at L&G Investments, Simon Ellis, has left the firm, Investment Week reports. He will be replaced by Simon Pistell, managing director of the L&G RDR programme.
10/01/2013

Gabelli starts out in India with acquisition of Horizon

The London-based asset management firm Gabelli Securities International (GSIL), an affiliate of the US firm Gamco, has announced that it has acquired the Indian alternative asset manager Horizon Research Advisors, based in New Delhi and focused on special situations, for an undisclosed amount.When the transaction is completed, Marc Gabelli, co-CEO of GSIL UK, and Manjit Kalha, managing partner and co-head of Horizon, will be co-CEOs of the Indian firm.
10/01/2013

Monte Paschi Banque sells AM operation to Trusteam Finance

Monte Paschi Banque has sold its asset management activity Monte Paschi Invest (MPI) to Trusteam Finance. The French firm, whose assets under management totalled EUR300m before the operation, will have assets of EUR500m afterwards. In practice, the OPCVM fund management activity provided by Monte Paschi Invest until 31 December 2012 ill be transferred to Trusteam Finance from 2 January 2013. Three people from the staff of 12 people at MPI have also been recruited by Trusteam Finance. “Their product range is primarily invested in fixed income produts, and is thus perfectly complementary with our product range, which is largely invested in traditional equities,” says Jean-Sebastien Beslay, founding partner of Trusteam.A partnership between the two firms has concomitantly been signed, which will allow the firm to meet the needs of clients for wealth management, institutional management or enterprise cash management. The Italian bank, which has 15 branches in France, also intends to offer a range of financial products and services as complements to the equity and diversified funds from Trusteam Finance.In the short term, MPI funds will retain their names as Meyerbeer - Meyerbeer Trésorerie and Meyerbeer Valoblig, Beslay says. After first half, however, the full range will be made uniform, the director says, and “small” equity funds from Monte Paschi Invest will be merged with Trusteam funds.
10/01/2013

DerivExperts sets up shop in London

The French valuation specialist DerivExperts on 9 January announced the opening of an office in London. The London branch represents a new step in the development of DerivExperts, and accompanies the deployment of its valuation platform for OTC products, the firm says in a statement.It will be active once European Market Infrastructure (EMIR) regulations come into force in 2013, to improve the transparency of risks on over-the-counter derivative markets, and from 22 July 2013, when the law will have been fully transposed in all countries concerned by the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) directive, which regulates managers of non-UCITS funds.As Francis Cornut, chairman of DeriveExperts, explains: “as part of the development of our valuation platform for OTC products, London, the European centre of alternative management, is a natural place for a location necessarily to be, and this is all the more apparent as soon as EMIR and AIFM regulations come into effect. It allows us to extend our expertise, multiply the reach of our valuations, and bring our clients a vision which is both complete and thorough for their various valuation issues.”The London office will be led by Francis Cornut, and will have a team of 6 people at its opening in January, with the objective of rapidly recruiting more partners.
10/01/2013

Inflows and returns expected at Lazard Frères Gestion

Lazard Frères Gestion finished the year 2012 on a very positive note. At the end of November, following a very difficult year, inflows nonetheless totalled EUR300m, the chairman of the firm, François-Marc Durand, announced on 9 January at a press conference. Durand emphasizes that equity inflows were positive for the fifth consecutive year. As of the end of November, they totalled EUR300m. The chairman of Lazard Frères Gestion also pointed to the good performance of all strategies from the firm, and particularly to gains of 30% for Objectif Alpha Euro, and 32% for Objectif Crédit FI. Laslty, the target-date fund dedicated to emerging market corporate bonds, launched in late 2012, has posted inflows of EUR100m.
10/01/2013

Union sells Seattle property to Invesco Advisors

The German open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Global has sold the office and retail property at Fifth & Pine in Seattle (14,671 square metres) to Invesco Advisors for USD70.6m. The property was purchased for USD55m in 2005.Volker Noack, MD of Union Investment Real Estate (UIRE), states that the UniImmo: Global fund retains seven office and logistical properties in the US after this sale with a total value of about EUR335m.
10/01/2013

Lyxor AM UK hires CEO

Lyxor Asset Management on 9 January announced that it is strenghtenin its presence in the United Kingdom and is expanding tinto managed credit solutions.With this in mind, Pierre Gil is appointed CEO of Lyxor UK. Based in London, he will report to Inès de Dinechin, CEO of Lyxor, and locally to Ian Fisher, UK Chief Country Officer for Societe Generale Group.Gil will remain a member of Lyxor’s executive committee, and will combine this new role with his current position as head of international development for Lyxor.Egret Management LLP, the debt fund management entity of Société Générale group, is joining Lyxor and becomes Lyxor Asset Management UK LLP. The funds under management will continue to be managed by the same team, headed by Thierry de Vergnes. The team will be integrated into Lyxor’s investment management division. Lyxor thus extends its range of actively managed credit investments.Lyxor UK will further develop and reinforce the London based teams through the recruitment of more than 10 additional asset management professionals.Assets under management at Lyxor AM total about EUR75.4bn.
10/01/2013

John Paulson back on track for performance

At a time which has seen the worst returns ever for flagship funds from Paulson Partners, and the “Advantages” which have been noted, hedge fund managers are setting up to make up for lost time in 2012. Several other Paulson funds have turned in satisfactory performances. Credit Opportunity, currently the largest fund at the firm, made 9.1% in 2012, Gold share gained 10.8%. The Recovery Fund in 2012 made 4.1% (+7.5% for the gold share). The best performance of last year was for the Merger Arbitrage fund, which gained 9.9%.
10/01/2013

Former SAC analyst on parole

Wesley Wang, a former analyst at the hedge fund firm SAC Capital (USD14bn), who co-operated with a US government investigation into insider trading, was sentenced to two years on parole on Wednesday. Prosecutors stated that the suspect named 20 people who made trades on the basis of insider information.
10/01/2013

Credit Suisse sells ETF business to BlackRock

Credit Suisse on January 10 announced that it has signed an agreement to sell its Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) business to BlackRock. “This is an important strategic step in an industry that requires significant scale, and allows Credit Suisse to realize value in a business successfully built over many years,” the group says in a statement.The sale is part of Credit Suisse’s strategic divestment plans that were announced on July 18, 2012. It comprises Credit Suisse’s ETF business with assets under management of CHF 16.0 billion as of November 30, 2012. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and is expected to complete by the end of the second quarter of 2013. The terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
10/01/2013

Bellevue Group returns to profitability

According to initial estimates, Bellevue Group in 2012 made total net profits of CHF6m to CHF7m, compared with losses of CHF48m, following one-time write-downs for 2011.Bank am Bellevue and Bellevue Asset Management both posted operating profits last year.
10/01/2013

EFG International appoints a new CEO for the Caribbean

In Zurich, EFG International on 9 January announced the appointment of Carlos Valle as CEO for the Caribbean. Valle, who has spent more than 20 years at Merrill Lynch, was most recently managing director, Global Wealth Management, New York International Complex at the US group.Valle replaces Ludovic Chechin-Laurans, who joined the Swiss firm last year in order to take charge of private banking in Geneva, and serving as deputy CEO of EFG Bank. In this role, Chechin-Laurans will continue to oversee activities in the Caribbean, and Valle will report to him.
10/01/2013

Sandro Merino joins Arecon

finews.ch reports that Sandro Merino, who had been head of UBS Wealth Management Research Europe from 2006 to the end of 2012, at the beginning of 2013 became the head of fixed income portfolio management and deputy CIO at the independent wealth management firm Arecon (CHF2bn in assets). The CIO is Christoph Bianchet, one of the founders of the firm.
10/01/2013

New CEO of Swedbank Robur

Tomas Hedberg has been appointed CEO of Swedbank Robur, the asset management company of Sweden’s bank Swedbank. At the moment, Tomas Hedberg is head of interest rate and currency trading at Large Corporates & Institutions, Swedbank. He has held leading positions in the financial sector for many years. He will take up his new position on 28 January 2013. Marianne Nilsson, acting CEO since May 2012, will continue as deputy CEO and responsible for ownership issues at Swedbank Robur.
10/01/2013

T. Rowe Price is cleared to launch actively-managed ETFs

Under a number of traditional conditions about the size of issues and the availability of shares for trading on secondary markets, T. Rowe Price has been granted permission by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch actively-managed ETFs. Mutual Fund Wire states that the issuance of the license will ultimately have taken three years, as the first request was submitted on 4 December, 2009.
10/01/2013

Launches of independent asset management firms continued in 2012

Creations of independent asset management firms continued last year offsetting retirements in a sector which is marked by a mushroom-shaped age pyramid, Agefi Switzerland reports.New independent firms are arming themselves for a tougher regulatory environment. This trend accelerated last year, according to the various self-regulatory organisations to fight money-laundering (OAR): managers who are going independent currently are placing the emphasis on the solidity of their organisations, for example, through the use of independent directors or subcontracting.With 65 new members last year, the Swiss wealth management association (ASG) has more than 1,000 members, at a precise total of 1,034. 78 of these are passive members (banks or law firms). Five to six membership applications are currently being processed. Evolution is stable compared with previous years.
10/01/2013

BNP Paribas CFO indicted in Belgium

The CFO of the BNP Paribas group, Lars Machenil, has been indicted in Belgium as part of the scandal surrounding the Dutch-Belgian banking and insurance firm Fortis, the Belgian economic newspapers L’Echo and De Tijd are reporting on 9 January. Machenil, who was appointed as CFO of BNP Paribas n March 2012, served in that role at Fortis in 2008.Machenil becomes the sixth Fortis executive to face charges in the case, which has been underway for four years, and seeks to determine who was responsible for the group’s downfall. L’Echo reports that a seventh person has been indicted. The Belgian prosecutor’s office had no comment on the case.The other executives who have been named in the are the former chairman of the board of directors at Fortis, Maurice Lippens, its former CEO, Herman Verwilst, and three other heads, Jean-Paul Votron, Gilbert Mittler and Filip Dierckx. The latter is currently vice-chairman of the board of directors at BNP Paribas Fortis. They are accused of share price manipulation, fraud and false statements in writing. L’Echo does not state what crimes Machenil is accused of.
10/01/2013
Fonds

Alcatel-Lucent : le FSI interviendrait dans le rachat d'ASN

La situation financière d’Alcatel-Lucent préoccupe l’Etat, rapporte L’Agefi. Le Fonds stratégique d’investissement (FSI) pourrait participer au rachat d’ASN, la filiale de câbles optiques sous-marins. De plusieurs sources proches du dossier, des discussions sont en cours avec différents investisseurs. L’opération est estimée entre 600 et 700 millions d’euros.
Fonds
10/01/2013
Fonds

BlackRock et JPMorgan vont valoriser quotidiennement leurs fonds monétaires

BlackRock et JPMorgan vont détailler la valeur de leurs fonds monétaires sur une base quotidienne, rejoignant ainsi Goldman Sachs Asset Management, qui a été le premier à annoncer une telle initiative pour ses fonds de papiers américains, rapporte le Financial Times. D’autres n’ont pas l’intention de publier une valeur liquidative quotidienne. C’est notamment le cas de Vanguard, précise le FT.
Fonds

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